Forbes has released its 2023 World’s Billionaires list, revealing that nine Armenians have joined the ranks of the world’s richest people. The list features 2,640 billionaires globally, down from last year’s count of 2,668.
Among the Armenians on the list, Sergei Galitsky (Arutyunyan) takes the 905th spot. He is the founder of Magnit, a major Russian supermarket chain and cosmetics retailer with over 26,000 stores. Samvel Karapetyan, a commercial real estate developer and owner of Tashir Holding worth $2.8 billion, ranks 1,104th. Albert Avdolyan, who owns coal mining and gas companies in Siberia and the Far East, is 1368th, while Artem Khachatryan, co-founder of the Russian discount retailer Fix Price, is 1434th.
Other notable Armenians on the list include Andrey Andreev (Andrey Ogadzhanyantshas), who created popular dating sites and apps such as Mamba, Badoo, Bumble, Chappy and Lumen. He ranks 1616th. Eduardo Eurnekian, the chairman of Corporación América International and the son of Armenian immigrants to Argentina, ranks 1575th. Noubar Afeyan, the founder and CEO of life sciences innovation firm Flagship Pioneering in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is 1804th. Finally, Kim Kardashian, who made her fortune through reality TV and her shapewear business Skims, is ranked 2259th, tied with Ruben Vardanyan, co-founder of the investment company Troika Dialog in the early 1990s.
The total wealth of the world’s billionaires has dropped by $500 billion to $12.2 trillion, with almost half of the list worth less than they were a year ago. Elon Musk has lost his spot as the richest person in the world after the acquisition of Twitter resulted in a decline in Tesla shares. Bernard Arnault, head of LVMH, has taken the top spot, marking the first time a citizen of France has led the rankings.
The United States continues to have the most billionaires, with 735 list members worth a combined $4.5 trillion. China (including Hong Kong and Macau) comes in second with 562 billionaires worth $2 trillion, while India has 169 billionaires worth $675 billion.
